1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the general art of tools, and to the particular field of wrenches.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Many businesses, such as automobile repair shops, routinely encounter workpieces, such as bolts, nuts or the like, that are extremely difficult to remove or place. The difficulty can be a result of the workpiece being fixed, as by rust or the like, in place, or because the workpiece is in a location that is very difficult to reach. For example, a bolt may be underneath another part that blocks access to the bolt or inhibits movement of a wrench or tool used to move the workpiece in a manner necessary to the operation. This makes removal or installation of certain workpieces difficult and time consuming.
It is often necessary to remove other parts to gain access to the workpiece of interest with a wrench, such as an open-ended wrench or a box wrench or the like.
Therefore, there is a need for a wrench that can expeditiously reach and remove workpieces that are located in difficult to reach locations.
While the tool art contains many examples of powered wrenches, the inventor is not aware of any powered wrench which is easily adapted to reaching hard to reach elements. Most of the known powered wrenches are cumbersome and are not amenable to use on a workpiece to which frontal access is blocked and/or side access to that workpiece is severely restricted.
Therefore, there is a need for a powered wrench that can expeditiously reach workpieces to which access is severely limited.
Still further, many of the known powered wrenches are not easily adapted to a wide range of workpiece sizes. A workpiece-engaging head must be sized for each particular workpiece and must be changed each time the wrench is used with a different size or shape workpiece.
Therefore, there is a need for a powered wrench that can easily accommodate a range of workpiece sizes and shapes without requiring changing of the workpiece-engaging portion of the wrench.
Even when the known powered wrenches can be used on a workpiece, the workpiece-engaging portion of the powered wrench must be carefully and accurately oriented to accommodate the workpiece. While many known powered wrenches are designed to make such an accommodation, still further improvement in this feature is required to expedite use of a powered wrench.
Therefore, there is a need for a powered wrench that can accommodate connection to a workpiece in an expeditious manner.
For various reasons it may be necessary to be able to quickly disable a powered wrench. Other than turning a motor off, many known powered wrenches cannot be easily disabled.
Therefore, there is a need for a powered wrench that can be easily disabled and has a plurality of means for disabling the powered wrench.
It is a main object of the present invention to provide a wrench that can expeditiously reach and remove workpieces that are located in difficult to reach locations.
It is another object of the invention to provide a powered wrench that can expeditiously reach workpieces to which access is severely limited.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a powered wrench that can easily accommodate a range of workpiece sizes and shapes without requiring changing of the workpiece-engaging portion of the wrench.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a powered wrench that can accommodate connection to a workpiece in an expeditious manner.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a powered wrench that can be easily disabled and has a plurality of means for disabling the powered wrench.
These, and other, objects are achieved by a powered wrench that has a workpiece-engaging driven chain in the workpiece engaging portion thereof. The chain is driven by a fluid motor. One form of the powered wrench of the present invention includes an open-ended head and another form of the wrench includes a box head. Yet another form of the wrench includes an extension that can include a flexible section and yet another form of the powered wrench of the present invention includes a fluid motor in the handle of the wrench.
The workpiece-engaging chain of the present invention permits a powered wrench to expeditiously reach and remove workpieces that are located in difficult to reach locations, even when access to the workpiece is severely limited. The chain is flexible so the powered wrench can easily accommodate a range of workpiece sizes and shapes without requiring changing of the workpiece-engaging portion of the wrench and accommodates connection to a workpiece in an expeditious manner.
The powered wrench of the present invention also has a sprocket that drives the chain by rotation thereof, and a ratchet and pawl mechanism that can prevent rotation of the chain-driving sprocket when activated. Thus, in addition to simply disabling the motor driving the powered wrench, there is an additional means for stopping operation of the powered wrench.